I'm  Laura Rios, I was born in 1992.

I'm a contemporary dancer and creator. I live in Havana, Cuba.

Well, I started studying classical ballet for five years and then at 15 years old, I started in the National School of Modern Cuban Technique. In a way, that  moment was a very hard change for me because classical ballet and contemporary or modern techniques are very different. Also, I feel that even today classical ballet is a strong trace in my body.

A few years later, I started to be part of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba (DCC) and stayed for eight years (2010-2018). This is the national company of Cuba and I consider it an important and great school for young dancers. At the same time, I studied in the University of Arts in Cuba (ISA), I finished there in 2018. 

Inside DCC I worked with different choreographers from different countries, it's really nice and important of course for a very young dancer, but there were two different choreographers that ‘lit a light’ inside of me and I began to focus on the dialogue of the creators and tried to understand their ways of making and thinking.

As a dancer, it was very uncomfortable when a choreographer tried to make a piece and during the process spoke of deep and complex ideas or spoke of being faithful to the concepts for the creation of movement and in the end the real interest was to see pirouettes and virtuosity; much, much movement. Sometimes simple ideas , movements are stronger.

So, I began to ask myself many existential questions as a dancer, about what is contemporary dance, about where and what is the real virtuosity in dance, in the pieces, in the movement. Conclusion: many questions appeared, my perception changed, I left the company and I started to make little experiments as a choreographer but, to be honest, I don't feel like one. I think that I’m a little child and maybe my creations are an answer of my necessity as a dancer. Of course I'm not sure, but it's a zone that my body wants to explore.

Now there are two main questions that inspire me and I'm working on them. The first and maybe the most important one and I use it as a creator or a dancer and it’s a practice that I always try to do, even if I work with others choreographers: Why am I going to move, to dance?  The second one is: How can dance not  be ephemeral? Thinking of temporality,  living tracks in the space. 

The other thing is that recently I was part of the Performing Arts Advanced Program (PACAP 4) in Lisbon, Portugal (2020). It was a really nice experience and I met artists that are part of the history of dance and one very important thing that I explored and learned there, was to not be afraid to make and create our art, I’m trying to think about it because most of the time, I’m very insecure.

To finish this little text and if I need to give you an advice, I would like to say work. We need to work, continue working, trabajar duro and not in the superficial or ‘quick meaning’ of the word; we need to go inside, open up and go deep into it and work in the intelligent way. For me this is the only way and what makes the difference.

Thank you so much for reading and count on me if you need me.

Hugs

Laura